Valve unveils SteamOS; a new Linux-based operating system for your living room

The first of three mysterious announcements from Valve has been unveiled today, and it looks like Steam will be getting a brand new free operating system designed to take advantage of your TV and your living room. It’s certainly the next logical step for the innovative gaming company after the recent success of their Steam Big Picture Mode.

The newly coined “SteamOS” will use a Linux-based architecture combined with a Steam gaming experience that is fine-tuned for the big screen. But the best part about the new operating system so far? The fact that Steam OS will be available as a “free stand-alone operating system for living room machines.”

The official announcement page for SteamOS tells us that the operating system is capable of running on “any living room machine,” and that it will come with a significant performance upgrade that not only increases the breadth of graphics processing, but also audio performance as well.

Alongside the unveiling of SteamOS, Valve has also announced four of the bigger features that will accompany the new operating system upon its launch sometime soon (the features will also be available in the regular Steam client as well). These SteamOS features include in-home streaming of your favorite Windows and Mac games directly onto your TV; television, music, and movie services; family sharing between games, which we’ve seen Valve talk about before in the past; and new family options with regards to who can see what on the shared operating system.

The upcoming SteamOS will be available for download sometime soon at the appealing price of “free forever.” In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled to Gamezebo for the other two announcements that are set to come from Valve later on in the week. The second announcement is set to be revealed in just under 48 hours from now. Any guesses on what it could be?